The U.K. government pledged Monday to clean up Lake Windermere, a sewage-clogged beauty spot that has come to symbolize the filthy state of Britain’s waterways.
Environment Secretary Steve Reed said the aim was to stop all sewage discharges into England’s largest lake.
The lake, flanked by steep-sided hills, is part of the Lake District National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site in northwest England that draws millions of visitors a year. The region's landscape of woods, fields, stone walls and sheep inspired poet William Wordsworth and children’s writer Beatrix Potter.
But Windermere is regularly flooded with human waste when storms overwhelm the local sewage system. Last year the BBC revealed that the local water company, United Utilities, had discharged more than 140 million liters (37 million gallons) of sewage into the lake between 2021 and 2023.
U.K. water firms are under growing pressure to stop frequent sewage overflows into rivers and oceans that have literally caused a stink, sickened swimmers and polluted fishing streams.
Clean-water campaigners say creaking Victorian pipes, growing populations and more intense downpours linked to climate change are a recipe for environmental disaster, exacerbated by a lack of investment by the private companies that control Britain’s water system. Sewage spills into England’s rivers, lakes and seas more than doubled in 2023 compared to 2022, according to the Environment Agency.
The Labour government, elected last year, has vowed to clean up Britain’s waterways. Its plan involves using private investment and fines levied on polluting water firms to restore and replace crumbling infrastructure.
Reed said United Utilities will invest 200 million pounds ($258 million) to upgrade wastewater treatment works at Windermere and a new pipe will be built to take sewage away from the lake. He acknowledged it could take years before the waters are safe to swim in again.
Matt Staniek, founder of the campaign group Save Windermere, said the government's announcement was “a very, very welcome first step.”
“But we all know what politicians are like. Until something is legally binding and set in stone, it’s just a promise at this point,” he told the BBC.
